Nvidia’s $500 billion deal with top Wall Street firms has sparked a debate about circular spending in the AI ecosystem. Ed Zitron is a critic of the investments pouring into the industry, and he shares his bearish take on AI. Brett Schulman, CEO of fast casual chain Cava, is keeping his eye on consumer confidence amid salmonella and cyclospora outbreaks in the U.S. Schulman discusses the impact foodborne illness has had on the restaurants, despite Cava’s food supply chain being unimpacted by issues. Plus, former FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb discusses President Trump’s Executive Order on childhood vaccines and the pressure it may create for state leadership. Ed Zitron - 03:47 Brett Schulman - 14:03 Dr. Scott Gottlieb - 22:41 In this episode: Leslie Picker, @LesliePicker Michael Santoli, @michaelsantoli Brian Sullivan, @SullyCNBC Katie Kramer, @Kramer_Katie Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

AI Deals Go Round and Round & Cava’s CEO  8/12/26

Squawk Pod

[SPEAKER_04] Bring in show music please.

[SPEAKER_00] Hi, I'm CNBC producer Katie Kramer. Today on Squawk Pod. Everybody's talking about NVIDIA's massive deal with Wall Street to shore up AI infrastructure. But what are the holes in the case?

[SPEAKER_02] Everybody's propping up what is really the end of the era of hyper-growth.

[SPEAKER_00] Ed Zitron of the Better Offline podcast has a bearish take.

[SPEAKER_02] They basically pay people to rent back the GPUs that they sell them. They help raise the debt. They find the sites. It's vendor financing.

[SPEAKER_00] Then the salmonella and cyclospora outbreaks hitting restaurants. CAVA CEO Brett Schulman has his eye on consumer confidence.

[SPEAKER_06] Our ingredients weren't sourced from any of the impacted areas of the food safety outbreaks. We did see broader consumer concerns around leafy green consumption, fresh produce consumption.

[SPEAKER_00] And in other health news, President Trump has signed an executive order to change childhood vaccines. Former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb on what's to come.

[SPEAKER_05] You're going to see an effort to go state by state by some of the anti-vaccine groups to put pressure on state legislators to do away with those school entrance requirements.

[SPEAKER_00] All that today with special guests in our anchor chairs. It is Wednesday, August 12th, 2026. Squawk Pod begins right now. First up today on the podcast, the business news story of the week. Chip maker Nvidia struck a deal with six of the largest Wall Street firms for $500 billion. That's half a trillion dollars to fund the massive build out of artificial intelligence to meet seemingly endless demand.

[SPEAKER_00] CEO Jensen Huang calls it a big concept and he got buyers. Wong was on CNBC earlier this week.

[SPEAKER_03] We're talking about an extraordinarily significant infrastructure build.

AI Deals Go Round and Round & Cava’s CEO 8/12/26

Read the full transcript

The candid version is on a podcast,
not the earnings call.

AI Deals Go Round and Round & Cava’s CEO 8/12/26

Read the full transcript

The candid version is on a podcast, not the earnings call.

The candid version is on a podcast,
not the earnings call.